As the Premier League kicks off today, MiD DAY zeroes in on the Top Six teams in contention for English football’s biggest prize
Chelsea
The Special One is back at Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho’s return after a six-year absence has Chelsea fans dreaming of another deluge of silverware.
Manager: Jose Mourinho
Position in 2012-13: 3rd
Transfers in: Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen) £18m, Marco van Ginkel (Vitesse Arnhem) £8m, Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) free
Transfers out: Jeffrey Bruma (PSV Eindhoven) £2.5m, Florent Malouda (Trabzonspor) free, Ross Turnbull (Doncaster) free, Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid) loan, Oriol Romeu (Valencia) loan, Marko Marin (Sevilla) loan, Gael Kakuta (Vitesse Arnhem) loan
Tottenham Hotspur
Gareth Bale’s future remains uncertain heading into the new campaign as Real Madrid consider spending a world record fee of over £80 million, but Spurs have already prepared for life without the Wales winger after splashing out £50 million on new signings.
Manager: Andre Villas-Boas
Position in 2012-13: 5th
Transfers in: Roberto Soldado (Valencia) £26m, Paulinho (Corinthians) £17m, Nacer Chadli (FC Twente) £7m, Ezekiel Fryers (Standard Liege) undisclosed
Transfers out: Steven Caulker (Cardiff) £8m,
Liverpool
Anfield is under a dark cloud heading into the new season after Luis Suarez’s unsuccessful attempts to engineer a move to Arsenal left Brendan Rodgers with an almighty mess to clear up.
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Position in 2012-13: 7th
Transfers in: Simon Mignolet (Sunderland) £9m, Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo) £7.2m, Luis Alberto (Sevilla) £6.8m, Kolo Toure (Manchester City) free
Transfers out: Andy Carroll (West Ham) £15m, Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea) £5m, Jay Spearing (Bolton) undisclosed
Manchester United
David Moyes faces Mission Impossible in succeeding legendary manager Alex Ferguson, but although he is yet to strengthen his squad, United finished comfortably clear of the pack last season and, as long as Robin van Persie stays fit, they should challenge for all the top prizes.
Manager: David Moyes
Position in 2012-13: 1st
Transfers In: G Varela (Penarol) £2.4 m
Transfer Out: Paul Scholes (retired)
Manchester City
After surrendering the title to United in tame fashion and then losing the FA Cup final, City’s owners quickly dispensed with boss Roberto Mancini and welcomed new coach Manuel Pellegrini with a £90 million spending spree which has seen them installed as many people’s title favourites.
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Position in 2012-13: 2nd
Transfers in: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk) £30m, Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) £22m, Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) £20.6m, Jesus Navas (Sevilla) £15m
Transfers out: Carlos Tevez (Juventus) £12m, Maicon (Roma) undisclosed, Kolo Toure (Liverpool) free, Roque Santa Cruz (Malaga) free, Wayne Bridge (Reading) free
Arsenal
For the first time in four years, Arsene Wenger has avoided becoming embroiled in a vain attempt to stop one of his stars leaving, and yet the transfer market remains a major source of frustration for the Gunners boss, who has failed to make a single major signing despite vowing to spend big to end the club’s trophy drought.
Manager: Arsene Wenger
Position in 2012-13: 4th
Transfers in: Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre) free
Transfers out: Gervinho (Roma) £8m, Vito Mannone (Sunderland), £1.5m, Andre Santos (Flamengo) undisclosed, Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) free, Denilson (Sao Paulo) free, Joel Campbell (Olympiakos) loan, Johan Djourou (Hamburg) loan, Ignasi Miquel (Leicester) loan
Rest Are—->
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